Category: Wildlife

Goldfinch

Wildlife Assets and Hunting Gear to be Auctioned March 28-29 at AZGFD’s Outdoor Expo

Antlers, hides, head mounts and hunting equipment will be in high demand

The Arizona Game and Fish Department (AZGFD) will auction its inventory of wildlife assets at this weekend’s 2026 Outdoor Expo at the Ben Avery Shooting Facility, about one-half of a mile west of Interstate 17 on Carefree Highway.

Antlers, hides, skulls and wildlife mounts, as well as wildlife artwork and taxidermy — seized through law enforcement investigations, obtained from animals killed in vehicle collisions, or acquired through public donations — will be sold Saturday and Sunday, March 28-29. Items can be purchased individually, by the pound, or through a silent auction (cash or credit card only).

This year the wildlife assets tent will also feature outdoor and hunting gear and will be available for purchase at discounted prices. Items for sale include jackets, boots, tree stands, tables, game scales and so much more. Read more

Wildlife

Garden for Birds

A Cape May Warbler feeds on red-osier dogwood berries and the insects that the fruits attract (photo by Ryan Sanderson).

There is a new project to help support birds in our yards that informs us how to plant gardens that attract and benefit birds – resident birds, migrating birds, foraging birds, resting birds – even nesting birds. This new outreach project of the Cornell Lab of Ornithology, “Garden for Birds,” is bringing birders in the United States and Canada together to better inform us about how the plants that we add to our garden impacts birds and biodiversity. But even more than a “garden,” we are truly talking about landscaping our yard, and like us, birds need food, water, shelter, and safe places to raise their young. To meet these needs, birds require quality habitat.

Garden for Birds is a new resource that helps you plan and plant your own “habitat” that provides areas for birds to forage, rest, and nest, ranging from hummingbirds to thrushes, flycatchers to orioles.

Flowering plants, shrubs, and trees are the foundation of habitat, and together they for an interconnected environment that birds utilize and need. Did you know that 95 to 98 percent of North American songbirds feed insects to their young? And native insects that birds eat need native plants to thrive; then birds fill the role of an “organic pesticide” by foraging for insects attracted to a habitat you encourage. Your garden and yard can be the source of these vital resources that support birds annually. That’s where the Free resource, “Garden for Birds,” comes in. Read more

Wildlife

Delta Waterfowl Begins Predator Management Work to Increase 2026 Duck Production

Although snow and ice still have a firm grip over most of the prairie pothole region, field work has started for Delta’s Predator Management Program in preparation for the 2026 duck nesting season.

Delta’s team of professional trappers has begun working at 51 sites in Alberta, Saskatchewan, Manitoba, North Dakota, and South Dakota, key areas that serve as vital nesting grounds for North American waterfowl. Up to 70% of the continent’s ducks hatch in the PPR, which is often referred to as “North America’s Duck Factory.” Millions of ducks hatched in the region migrate through all four flyways each fall and winter.

“Our efforts in the PPR give hens a leg up to produce a successful nest,” said Mike Buxton, waterfowl programs director. “Fewer predators on the landscape gives more ducks a fighting chance to make it to the fall flight.”

Delta’s proven Predator Management Program is a targeted approach to increase nest success, adding hundreds of thousands of ducks to every fall flight. Nest success, defined as a nest with at least one hatched duckling, is often less than 5 to 10% in many key breeding areas of the PPR. A hatch of 15 to 20% is required just to maintain current populations.

“Delta’s trappers focus on areas of the PPR with high waterfowl breeding density but low nest success,” said Joel Brice, Delta’s chief conservation officer. “By strategically managing predators in these areas, we increase the likelihood of more nests hatching.”

Raccoons and skunks are two primary duck nest predators on the prairie, species that were absent or scarce across most of the prairie before the 1950s. Today, these overly abundant predators can have devasting impacts on duck nests — research shows that up to 90 percent of failed nests are destroyed by predators. Read more

Hunting, Wildlife

DNR urges caution on trails, in state parks following northern Michigan blizzard

Winter scene near Marquette

March 20, 2026
Contact: Greg Kinser, 989-390-0431

The Michigan Department of Natural Resources is advising outdoor enthusiasts in areas affected by this week’s blizzard to be cautious when planning visits to trails and state parks that may have been affected by the extreme winter weather.

“With record snowfall March 15-16 in the Upper Peninsula – some areas received more than 4 feet of snow – and snowy and icy conditions in the northern Lower Peninsula, we’re urging people to check conditions before traveling to storm-affected areas and to be aware of downed trees and branches, as well as bent or bowed trees and branches that may fall unexpectedly,” said Greg Kinser, Lower Peninsula trails coordinator for the DNR Parks and Recreation Division.

Local officials this week reported impassable, snow-covered roads and downed trees and power lines across the region. Power outages have also been reported, with several counties initially reporting the majority of residents without power.

“In addition to trail impacts, many state parks and recreation facilities across the U.P. and the northern Lower Peninsula were rendered inaccessible by the significant snowfall,” Kinser said. “State park staff are digging out, and it will take time before some park facilities are accessible again.”

Kinser also thanked trail partner groups for their prompt, professional assistance in helping to assess trail conditions.

About 260 miles of forest roads in the northeastern Lower Peninsula remain closed due to debris from extensive tree damage during the 2025 ice storm. Cleanup efforts are ongoing.

Know before you go

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Wildlife

Beyond the Bird Feeder: The Surprising Science of Black Bear Predation

 

 

As black bear populations rebound across North America, the line between wild carnivore and human-bear conflict continues to blur. Science shows that while they are formidable predators, black bears’ preference for “easy” calories is what truly defines their complex role in our modern landscape.

By John Nettles, Boone and Crockett Club Fellow, Clemson University

Black bear hunting plays an important role in the local history and culture of much of North America. However, by the early 1900s, overhunting and habitat degradation had dramatically reduced black bear populations. Thanks to successful conservation efforts by agencies and harvest managers, populations have since rebounded. In fact, the American black bear is now the world’s most abundant large carnivore and one of the very few carnivores with an increasing population. This recovery has allowed many states to expand current seasons or reestablish hunting seasons for black bear.

The story of black bear conservation doesn’t stop there, though. Increasing numbers of both people and bears have led to greater overlap between the two populations and to a new conservation challenge: human-bear conflict (HBC). Read more

Wildlife

Boone & Crockett Member Spotlight—John M. Olin

Olin and SI cover

John Olin was a business titan who understood that if there was no game left to hunt, consumers would have little use for his company’s Winchester firearms, or Western ammunition. He stood at the crossroads of industry and science, using the weight of the Olin Corporation to help fund the future of conservation.

By Steve Wagner

Since its inception, the Boone and Crockett Club has been a bridge between science, conservation, and hunting. After all, without science-based conservation, there would be no hunters—and thus no hunting industry.

In 1887, Theodore Roosevelt’s original cast of Club members included George Bird Grinnell, owner and editor of Forest and Stream, essentially the Wall Street Journal for that era’s sportsmen. Others ran companies deeply vested in the commercial success of hunting, such as leather-goods magnate Bronson Rumsey, and Archibald Rogers, whose freight services buoyed manufacturing supply chains and retail product distribution. Today, the corporate connection continues with Johnny Morris of Bass Pro Shops/Cabela’s, past-Club president Tony Caligiuri of Boyt Harness Co., and CJ Buck of Buck Knives, just to name a few.

Nestled between the Club’s early pioneers and its modern-day CEOs, there was John Olin.

Reviving Winchester

Born in 1892, Olin began his career in 1913 as a 21-year-old chemical engineer for his father’s Western Cartridge Co. Read more

Ammunition, Wildlife

Henry Repeating Arms’ New Rifle Series Donates to Our National Forests

Henry Repeating Arms, one of America’s leading firearm manufacturers, has launched a new series of commemorative rifles to benefit the National Forest Foundation (NFF), the nonprofit partner of the United States Forest Service (USFS).

The National Forest Foundation Edition Rifle Series honors America’s National Forests and Grasslands while contributing to conservation projects across nearly 200 million acres of public lands nationwide. Proceeds from the rifles will help fund initiatives focused on reforestation, wildlife habitat restoration, watershed protection, and trail improvement in National Forests across the country.

“These lands are a national treasure that must be protected to ensure they can be enjoyed by future generations,” said Anthony Imperato, Founder and CEO of Henry Repeating Arms. “Millions of Americans hunt, hike, camp, and connect with nature in our National Forests every year. Through this initiative, we’re proud to support the work of the NFF and the USFS to help protect and restore the forests and grasslands that make those experiences possible.”

The commemorative series includes four rifles built on some of Henry’s most recognizable platforms, each featuring custom engraving and upgraded materials that pay tribute to America’s public lands. Read more

Firearms, Wildlife

Live Action from The Biggest Nest Box 

The female Barred Owl is now incubating her recently laid eggs.

In what may be the biggest nest box available to cavity nesting birds, a female Barred Owl is incubating 2 eggs she laid last week inside the especially big nest box installed near Indianapolis, Indiana. Fairly famous among birders, this big nest box has attracted nesting pairs of Barred Owls most years since 2003, including last year’s pair that raised 2 young owls on camera. This year, starting last Wednesday, March 11, birders were treated to their first look at the first egg, which was revealed when the female Barred Owl took an incubation break on the 24–7 live camera that anyone can check on anytime online.

The clutch sizes of Barred Owls range from 1 to 5 eggs, but most clutches contain 2 or 3 eggs. The female revealed her second egg on the evening of Saturday, March 14th after a day of steady incubation. You can view the live view and see both of the egg reveals in the video highlights that are posted regularly as the nesting cycle progresses at Barred Owl Cam. From this point forward, the female will spend most of the next month incubating the clutch inside the nest box while her mate keeps watch and hunts for food. There is also a second camera that shows the outside of the biggest nest box, which you can access by clicking on the green icon at the top-right side of the viewing screen, or at Outside View.

Only the female incubates the eggs and broods nestlings, but the male is responsible for procuring the bulk of the food, bringing prey items to the female inside and outside the nest box. The incubation period is 28 to 33 days, and the female begins incubating as soon as the first egg is laid, which means the nestlings hatch a couple days apart and are staggered a bit in size and development. Young Barred Owls fledge when they are about 6 weeks old, although they may leave the nest site a short time before actually fledging.

The extra-large nest box that attracts Barred Owls that thrill birders annually is located in the backyard of Wild Birds Unlimited founder, President, and CEO Jim Carpenter, who lives near Indianapolis, Indiana. The big nest box is positioned 32 feet high against the trunk of a hickory tree, and to keep predators like raccoons from reaching the nest, aluminum flashing is wrapped around the tree. The Wild Birds Unlimited Barred Owl Cam has been part of the Cornell Lab of Ornithology’s Bird Cam Network since 2012, and the outside camera was added in 2018 so it is possible to watch the action on the perch, and to monitor the young owls when they leave the nest box to begin the fledging period. Read more

Wildlife

Michigan Bears Waking Up

Bear cub near Cadillac

A DNR wildlife representative holds a female bear cub during a den check near Cadillac Feb. 27.

March 12, 2026
Contact: Jared Duquette, 517-927-1857

As spring approaches and Michigan’s estimated 12,450 black bears emerge from their dens — many with new cubs in tow — here are a few important things to remember:

  • Bears have an extraordinary sense of smell and memory. They can smell food from a mile away and remember food locations for years, including that backyard bird feeder or grease-spattered grill.
  • When bears get used to human-associated food sources, they are more apt to roam neighborhoods — not flee when harassed by people — and even break into homes and outbuildings for food.
  • A bear raiding your bird feeder is not cause to contact the Michigan Department of Natural Resources to request the animal be relocated. Remove the bird feeder for at least two weeks and the bear should stop coming around and move on to other food sources. Talk to your neighbors about taking the same action.

Read more

Wildlife

Coalition Files Lawsuit Challenging Approval of Catalina Island Mule Deer Eradication Plan

This week, a coalition of hunting, conservation, and sportsmen’s advocacy organizations filed a lawsuit challenging the California Department of Fish and Wildlife’s approval of a plan to exterminate all mule deer on Catalina Island. The coalition’s partners, including Safari Club International, California Rifle and Pistol Association, California Bowmen Hunters/State Archery Association, Howl for Wildlife, California Deer Association, and the Coalition to Save Catalina Island Deer, will make the case that the Department violated state law by rushing the decision through without proper environmental review.

The lawsuit alleges that the Department’s approval fails to meet the requirements of the California Environmental Quality Act (CEQA), lacks adequate scientific evidence, and does not properly consider other and better alternatives for managing the deer, such as regulated hunting.

The Catalina Island Conservancy, which submitted the plan to the Department, dismissed hunting as a viable management tool to justify its preferred alternative of the mass slaughter of the island’s deer population. This strategy was based on the flawed premise that mule deer, which are native to California, are “invasive” on the island.

The coalition’s lawsuit seeks to require the plan to undergo a full environmental review under CEQA, including scientific analysis, consideration of alternatives, and opportunities for stakeholder input.

“The California Department of Fish and Wildlife’s approval of a plan to eradicate Catalina Island’s mule deer population is an abdication of leadership in a moment where they could implement balanced, science-based stewardship,” said W. Laird Hamberlin, CEO of Safari Club International. Read more

Wildlife
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